Moon - 53 pictures

Advanced Photoshop Contest - 53 entries

Contest Options

Contest Info

Started: 2/19/2008 06:00

Ended: 2/21/2008 06:00

Level: advanced

Entries: 53

Jackpot:

$5

$3

$2

Contest Directions:
The Lunar eclipse will be seen in the western hemisphere late Wednesday and early Thursday - recreating the eclipse that saved Christopher Columbus on February 29, 1504. Columbus correctly calculated the day of the eclipse and when his crew ran out of food and faced hostile local inhabitants in Jamaica, he told the locals that if they do not cooperate he would make the Moon disappear. After Columbus "made the Moon disappear", locals begged him to return the Moon to the sky, for any food and supplies he would need.
Photoshop the Moon any way you wish, or anything related to the Moon. Some examples are: merging the Moon with some objects, showing what life would be like if the Moon ruled the world, including the Moon in movies and paintings, etc.

This contest is fueled by the following news: The Moon (Latin - Luna) is a unique natural satellite of the Earth. It is the second brightest object in the sky after the Sun.
The Romans called the Earth satellite as the Moon (Latin - Luna)
General characteristics:
As the Moon makes a complete orbit around the earth with a cycle per month, periodic variations between the Earth, Moon and the Sun change; we observe this phenomenon as the cycle of lunar phases. The periodic variation between subsequent new lunar phases constitutes 29.5 days (709 hours).
Though the Moon also rotates about its axis, it always faces towards the Earth with the same side. The fact of the matter is that, the moon is a celestial body with a displaced centre of gravity (which is discussed below). An example of such a body in ordinary life is the toy "Cork-tumbler" or an ordinary hammer with a steel striker and wooden handle. Such bodies, while moving around the orbit, are subjected to a so-called gravitational force, under the influence of which, the bodies always tend to turn with the heavier part towards the gravitation source, around which the bodies rotate. For a long time, this physical effect was used for the orientation of artificial satellites. This effect is the factor which "forces" the Moon (and not only the moon) to be turned one side towards the gravitation source, instead of the exact coincidence of the rotation periods around its axis and round the Earth, about which is explained in classical works. Such a position has developed, even during the formation of the Moon, when according to one of the hypotheses, as a result of a space disaster, a big clod of substance (the future Moon) has been pulled out from the crust of a more massive body (probably Earth), possessing the atmosphere. Thus, a flaming clod of substance, saturated with gases, was formed in space. Under the influence of gravitational force, heavy rocks of flaming clod began to descend towards the Earth and light fractions moved towards the opposite side. Gases, dissolved in the clod, began to evaporate rapidly, merging into small and big bubbles, which burst after rising onto the surface and forming craters. Thus, the surface of the Moon is literally a hot period and like boiling porridge. Under the influence of the same gravitational force, gases and other light fractions started moving towards the other side of the moon. For this reason, craters are found more on the other side of the moon than on the other which is visible from earth. Not all gas bubbles could escape onto the surface and break it. Many of them thickened gradually hardening (due to cooling) near the surface layer, forming numerous cavities with residues of relict gases. These long time cooled gases penetrate onto the surface of the Moon through the cracks, formed due to tidal strains in the crusts of the Moon, which are quite often observed from earth.
Nevertheless, since the rotation of the Moon around the Earth along the elliptic orbit takes place unevenly, it is possible to observe 59 percent of the lunar surface from earth.
Also, during its rotation and orbital motion, the Moon makes small swings of natural body (so called "Physical librations") at an equilibrium position of a value of 0.02o along its longitude with a period of 1 year and 0.04 ° along its latitude with period of 6 years.
Since atmosphere is absent on the Moon, during the daytime the surface of the moon accumulates up to +120 °C and cools down to −160 °C during nights and when in the shade. Also, the sky on the Moon is always black even during the daytime. The huge disk of Earth is visible from the Moon by 3.67 times more than the Moon from the Earth and hangs in the sky almost stationary. The phases of Earth, visible from the Moon, are the direct opposite to the lunar phases on the Earth.